Customs agents arrest contract workers at OIA

July 25, 2009|By Anika Myers Palm, Sentinel staff writer

Federal customs and transportation security agents arrested nine contract workers Thursday night at Orlando International Airport after discovering the workers were residing in the United States illegally.

The nine suspects were working on a construction project at OIA when Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration conducted a regulatory compliance inspection.

The joint inspection was requested by the TSA, according to Daniel Keefe, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman.

"They had been tipped that some of the workers could be illegal," Keefe said.

Of the nine arrested workers, six were turned over to border patrol and may be removed from the country. One is being prosecuted for criminal violations. And two workers who may have credible reasons for being in the United State must appear before officials to explain themselves at a later date, Keefe said

An investigation is ongoing.

The workers were employed by subcontractors of Hensel Phelps Co. to work in a secure area of Airside 1. Hensel Phelps representatives were not available for comment Friday.

"They [workers] would have been escorted in by badged employees, and they would have to go through security screening," airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is likely to receive custody of some the arrested workers, but was not involved in Thursday night's operation, said Ivan Ortiz, an ICE spokesman.

Airport operations and security staffers will meet with its contractors to remind them of the requirements and their responsibilities for complying with rules about illegal workers, Fennell said.

The renovation project at Airside 1 is expected to be completed later this year.